


Whale You Marry Me?

by darkwings17



Series: Whale Hello There [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dean Thinks he is Adorable, Dean Thinks he is Funny, Field Trip, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings, POV Castiel (Supernatural), Stupid Animal Puns, Teacher Dean Winchester, Zookeeper Castiel (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkwings17/pseuds/darkwings17
Summary: It is the third annual zoo field trip with Dean's class and Castiel is having a very good day, until hes not. Luckily Dean has a plan that might just make it all okay.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Whale Hello There [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745023
Comments: 20
Kudos: 109





	Whale You Marry Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Here is part three!!! This was meant to be pure fluff then somehow it managed to take a wrong turn somewhere along the way, but eventually we got back on track. 
> 
> Thank you again [Boudica176](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boudica176/pseuds/Boudica176) for betaing this for me, you're amazing!
> 
> I highly recommend starting with part one if you haven't already!
> 
> Thank you and hope y'all enjoy!!

One of the best things to wake up to is the fresh smell that comes after a storm. Especially if it’s the first rain after a very long drought. It is this heavenly smell drifting in from the open window that brings Castiel into the waking world. Castiel is not a morning person by any means. Normally it takes his alarm going off, two presses of the snooze button, and a large cup of coffee to get him even remotely human. However, this morning is different. 

His alarm isn’t supposed to go off for another three minutes, so he uses those precious moments to breathe in the outside scent and sit content in bed. Once the alarm does sound Castiel stretches and climbs out of bed heading directly for the shower. He shaves, brushes his teeth, and makes a valiant effort to tame his hair. Most days he doesn’t have the time or the motivation to even bother. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make a difference with his perpetual bed head.

Castiel makes his way down the hall to the kitchen and starts the coffee pot; no matter how good of a day it is, he still needs his caffeine fix. He places two slices of bread into the toaster and grabs the honey from the cupboard while he waits for his coffee to brew. A few minutes later he is happily sitting at the breakfast bar enjoying his honey butter toast and coffee. He scrolls through his phone, checking social media and his email. Usually, there's not much going on in the world, but he does happily welcome the funny cat videos that pop up every now and then. 

His phone pings with a new message. Instantly a smile lights up Castiel’s face and his heart speeds up a bit. A good morning text from his boyfriend never fails to make his day better. 

“ **_Mornin sunshine. Can’t wait to see you later._ ** ”

It’s simple, sweet, and reminds Castiel of what day it is. The third annual Winchester class field trip to the zoo is today. It’s been two years since the breathtaking third grade teacher brought his class to the zoo for the first time. The gorgeous man had wasted all of his charms on an oblivious zookeeper. Countless puns and jokes flew right over Cas’ head, causing a slight miscommunication between the two men. If it hadn’t been for Castiel’s coworker, Gabriel, they probably wouldn’t have gotten together. Cas will forever be grateful for Gabe’s meddling as it led to the best relationship he’s ever had. It’s been almost two full years now since he and Dean got together, and they couldn’t be happier. The zookeeper has a feeling that they’re getting close to a point where they can take the next step and finally move in together. They spend most nights together, at either of their apartments anyway. It just makes sense to move into one place. Maybe if he’s brave enough, Cas will ask Dean about it later.

About an hour later, with his coffee, Cas walks into the employee building at the zoo. Gabriel and a few of his other co-workers hanging out in the break room calls out their greetings as he hurries by. There are two hours until Dean’s class is supposed to arrive and Cas needs to double-check with everyone involved to make sure they’ll be ready. He finds his map and notes for the tour on his desk all ready to go since he had the foresight to lay it out the previous day. Gabriel always gives him a hard time for over-preparing for things like this, but Cas likes to have a plan and know what’s going on. He’s not a huge fan of surprises. 

With everything in place and ready for the day, Castiel and Gabe stand at the main entrance waiting for the class to arrive. It doesn’t take long for the excited voices of children to fill the air around them. Cas can see the kids standing in a cluster around two women, who are looking a bit overwhelmed. A quiet chuckle sounds from his side, and he turns to see Gabriel watching the group with a smirk on his lips. Cas elbows the shorter man and glares at him in warning.

“Oh, lighten up, Cassie. They look scared out of their minds, it's funny!” Gabe responds while unwrapping a sucker he seems to have grabbed from thin air.

“Just behave yourself please?” Castiel pleads. For some odd reason, he's nervous. There really is no explanation for why either. He sees Dean every day, so that wouldn’t make him nervous. They already agreed last year that it would be best to remain professional during any field trips, since both of them are technically working. Obviously, Gabe knows about their relationship along with a few other zoo employees. Castiel just can’t seem to shake the feeling that something is going to happen today and it’s making him very nervous. 

A moment later Dean appears with a bright smile on his face. Instantly, the nerves settle down to a more comfortable level. That smile never fails to make Castiel smile in return, even when it’s not directed at him. Dean leads his class and the two parent volunteers over to the waiting zookeepers. When they’re finally all standing together that beautiful smile Cas saw earlier is focused directly on him and he forgets how to breathe for a moment. 

“Whale hello there Cas,” Dean greets with a wink.

Ah yes, the signature Dean Winchester greeting. Cas didn’t catch it the first year the field trip happened and the second year Dean had to explain it to him. The traditional puns and jokes that people use tend to go right over Cas’ head, which tends to throw people off. Dean got used to it though and actually learned to love Cas’ own sense of humor and forgives him when Cas doesn’t understand Dean’s. Castiel has also heard many, many puns over the last two years, so he is fairly certain that this year he won't miss any. Because that's the thing with Dean. He absolutely loves puns, especially animal puns. Each year he has new puns for the animals at the zoo and the kids love them. While he would never tell Dean that, if he was being perfectly honest, Cas does too.

“Hello, Mr. Winchester,” Cas replies.

Dean rolls his eyes with a fond smile, “Cas, how many times do I have to tell ya? It’s just Dean.”

“Yes, of course, Mr. Winchester,” By some miracle Cas is able to hold a straight face while Dean looks at him exasperated. Someone clears their throat, shaking them out of the mini staring match they had going. Cas can see a slight pink tint to Dean’s cheek as he turns to address the class. 

“Alright kiddos! This here is Cas and Gabe, they’re going to take us to go see all the awesome animals today. Sounds good?” A choir of cheers answers him. “Awesome, alright so Brenda and Lisa, you’ll take your group and go with Gabe, and I’ll take my group and go with Cas.”

“Aw Dean-o, I’m hurt! You don’t want to go on a tour with little ol’ me?” Gabriel smirks. Twin death glares are his answer, which just causes his smirk to grow.

Dean turns back to address the class, “Okay, does everyone have their clipboard and pencil? Yes? Good. Let’s get started then!”

Gabriel takes off, walking backward as he talks to his group about the bear exhibits they’re about to go see. The two parent volunteers follow closely behind making sure they don't lose any kids along the way. Castiel turns his attention back to his group and is met with eleven pairs of eager eyes looking up at him (twelve if you count Dean’s). 

“Who wants to go see some big cats?” He asks and is met with very loud screeches. Accepting that as a positive answer he turns on his heels and heads towards the lion habitat. Cas knows Dean will be taking up the rear as he usually does. Normally it doesn’t bother Cas, but today he just wants the man as close to him as possible. He’s not normally a clingy person, so it's a weird feeling needing Dean like this. Cas tries to shake it off and convince himself he's overthinking things. There is a group of eight-year-olds that are depending on him right now and his focus should be on them, not his imagined relationship problems.

They reach the lion habitat and find all three lions laying together on the rocks grooming each other. It's the perfect picture to go along with Cas’ fun fact this year. He lets the kids have a few minutes to watch the lions, they’re always one of the more popular animals at the zoo. Naturally, Cas finds himself migrating closer to Dean. No matter what they’re doing, or where they are, they always seem to gravitate to each other. Gabriel called them magnets one time; of course, he said it with a slightly disgusted tone as he has to deal with the couple often. Cas knows Gabe is actually really happy for them and it's just in his personality to be sarcastic and snotty sometimes. He feels a slight nudge to his arm and his attention is turned back to Dean. With a slight head nod, the teacher signals that the group is ready for Cas again.

Without wasting another moment. Cas jumps into his little speech, “Did you guys know lions are the only big cats that live in groups? A group of lions is called a pride and they are very social creatures. Each cat has its role in the pride and they all rely on each other in order to survive.”

The kids look at him in awe and amazement. Castiel always feels a little bubble of pride that he can amaze kids like this every day with his work. Dean quickly reminds the kids to write down the fun fact on their worksheet and then they are moving on to the next habitat. Cas leads them to the leopards, then the jaguars, and finally to the cheetahs. He listens for a moment then smiles when he hears what he was hoping for.

“Alright guys, I’m going to need you to be really quiet here for a moment and listen really hard, okay?” Cas whispers to the group. They all nod their heads and listen. Some of them gasp when they hear it while others are still slightly confused. “Do you hear that quiet purring sound?” The majority of the class nods again. “That sound is coming from the cheetahs. These cats don’t actually roar like the other big cats do. Instead, cheetahs have this soft rumbling purr sound to communicate with each other. They can also make chirping noises if they need to be heard from longer distances.”

The kids go back to scribbling on their clipboards so Cas takes the time to watch Dean. Something is off with the man and Cas can’t seem to figure out what it is. Dean has barely looked at him this whole tour and hasn’t said a single word either. Of course, Dean answers questions from one of his kids if they ask, he is their teacher after all, but there has been no talk between them otherwise. As he watches Dean now, he notices the teacher has his hands shoved into his pockets fiddling with something and is watching the cheetahs very intently. It took some time, but Cas would like to say he knows the other man quite well by now. He can tell something is bothering Dean. Cas is about to ask him what's wrong when he feels a little hand grab his sleeve and tug gently.

“Mr. Cas? What is your favorite big cat?” A sweet little girl asks.

Cas bends down to be at eye level, “My favorite big cat is the tiger, which we are going to go see next if you all will follow me.”

He stands up and leads the group to the last of the big cat habitats. Cas wasn’t lying when he said the tigers are his favorite. The massive creatures amaze him with their strength and elegance. They are absolutely stunning and have such an intense look to them. Tigers are also incredibly playful if they’re in the mood. Luckily for him, they find the two tigers feeling playful when they reach the habitat. The tigers are playing with a giant red ball, passing it back and forth, chasing it around the exhibit, and tossing it into the water. All of the kids giggle at their antics and Cas allows them a few extra minutes to watch the giant beasts. If anyone were to ever ask, he would full-heartedly deny the extra minutes are actually for his own personal pleasure and not for the kids’ enjoyment.

The next stop on the tour is the grizzly bears. Castiel winds through the other zoo guests trying his best to create space for the large group behind him. He looks back every now and then to double-check he hasn’t lost anyone. Each time he does his eyes meet Dean’s, but the other man quickly averts his gaze. The closer they get to the bear habitats the worse the feeling grows in Castiel’s stomach. Did he do something wrong? Is Dean mad at him for something? They seemed fine yesterday and this morning Dean did send him a good morning text. At the beginning of the tour everything seemed normal, too. Cas goes back through the last couple hours trying to come up with something that might’ve set Dean off. Before he is able to think of something, the group reaches the grizzly bears and Cas has to jump back into tour guide mode. 

Cas manages to get through the next few animals without any problems. He is incredibly distracted though. Something is terribly wrong and he has no idea what it is. How is he supposed to fix things when he doesn’t even know what needs to be fixed? He wishes Dean would just talk to him, but the man is avoiding him as much as he can considering their situation. If Dean was so mad at him why didn’t he go with Gabriel’s tour group instead? All Cas wants to do is sit down with the man he loves and figure things out. Now is not the time for that though. They’re both working and can deal with their relationship issues later. Maybe Dean will get over it by the end of the day and this whole thing can just be a distant memory. Satisfied with his decision for now, Cas heads off to the polar bear habitat, the last of the bears before they head to the next section of the zoo. 

“These playful guys are the two polar bears we have here at the zoo. They usually live in the attic which gets very very cold, but they have almost 10 cm of blubber under their skin that keeps them nice and warm in the snow.”

The kids watch the polar bears play in the water and write on their clipboards before Dean calls for their attention. 

“Hey kiddos, I have a question for all of you.” Cas smiles a little at what he knows is coming. “What do you call a bear with no teeth?”

No one seems to have the answer this year, but Dean gives them a little longer to try to come up with something. Eventually the teacher realizes the class doesn’t know and shouts out the answer excitedly.

“A gummy bear!” As always Dean pulls out the mini packets of gummy bears for the kids and hands them out. They all squeal in excitement and happily take their treat. Castiel watches the scene happily taking in the familiar reaction to Dean’s jokes.

Cas freezes as he realizes what’s been wrong this whole tour. Dean has made absolutely no jokes or puns the entire time! There was the usual whale pun greeting and the gummy bear joke, but that’s it! Normally by now, Dean would have said at least five other puns or jokes. Castiel stares at the other man in horror. Something must be terribly wrong if Dean isn’t making any jokes. Dread settles heavily in Cas’ stomach. Why hasn’t Dean talked to him about this? Is Dean going to break up with him? No... Dean wouldn’t do that. There’s been nothing wrong with their relationship that would require them to break up. Sure, they argue every now and then, but every couple does. Right? 

Cas knows he’s hard to get to know, he doesn’t open up easily and has a hard time reading people as is. He thought that after two years he had gotten pretty good at reading Dean at least. Apparently not though if Dean is really about to break up with him. Dean always has so much patience with him though and has said he finds it adorable how oblivious Cas can be sometimes. Something must’ve happened to change Dean’s mind then. 

A gentle hand on his arm brings him out of his spiraling thoughts. He looks up and is met with jade green eyes filled with worry and concern.

“Where’d you go there Cas? You zoned out on us for a while, everything alright?” The softness in Dean’s voice, usually reassuring, has the opposite effect now. 

How dare Dean act like he cares, when he’s just going to break up with Cas in a few hours? 

Castiel yanks his arm out of Dean’s loose grip and sets his face into an unreadable mask, “I’m fine.”

“Woah, Cas what’s going on?” Dean asks, reaching out to him again. 

“Don’t touch me,” Cas snaps as he steps out of reach. A look of pure hurt washes over Dean's face and Castiel has to turn away before his own emotions cause his mask to crack. He can’t let himself feel yet. When he gets home he can let the tears out, but right now he has a tour to finish. 

“Alright class, who wants to go see some penguins?” Castiel asks, forcing his voice to sound excited. Cheers answer him so he leads the way without a backward glance at Dean. He can do this. Cas just needs to treat this like any other tour he gives daily at the zoo. Less than an hour left. Then he can hide in his office to wallow in his own emotions the rest of the day. 

Surprisingly, the rest of the tour goes smoothly. Well as smoothly as something can be when one knows his boyfriend is going to break up with them. And said boyfriend is walking around looking like a kicked puppy. Trying to catch Cas’ eye with a pleading look and beg him to explain the turn in his mood. Good, let him suffer for an hour. Cas is the one whose heart is going to break in half when Dean does end things between them. He has never loved anyone as much as he has loved Dean. They have already talked about their future together. Getting a house, having kids, growing old together. Cas really thought that his future was Dean. Apparently he thought wrong. 

They finish up with the last animal habitat of the tour and start heading back to the front gates. Cas knows Dean wants to talk to him and realizes that if he wants to continue to avoid the conversation a little longer, he is going to have to escape. Gabe will cover for him. He just has to get there before Dean has the chance to stop him. Luckily the other group is already there waiting for them. Cas sees Gabe talking to one of the parent volunteers, Brenda, he thinks, so he heads that way. A grip on his elbow stops him though. Instantly he tenses up, preparing himself to deal with Dean.

“Hey kids why don’t you say thank you to Mr. Cas here and then go meet up with the rest of the class?” Dean announces, standing for too close to Cas right now. All the kids say thank you and Cas forces a smile on his face for the kids’ sake. Once all of them are out of earshot, the grip on his elbow loosens slightly. “Cas, please talk to me?”

“There’s nothing to talk about Dean.”

“Yes there is! You’ve been avoiding me this whole tour and I don’t know what's going on. Did I do something? We were good yesterday, what changed?” Cas can hear the pleading in Dean’s voice. It's taking all of his will power to not turn around and comfort the man.

“I don’t know Dean, you tell me!” Cas snaps.

“Cas I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Just go and join your class Dean, we can talk later, but I have work to do and so do you,” Cas breaks free from Dean’s grip and walks over to Gabe, who is eyeing the two of them warily.

“What's going on, Cassie? You look like you’re ready to smite someone,” Gabriel asks seriously and Cas has never been more grateful for the man's friendship.

“I’m pretty sure Dean is going to break up with me and I don’t want to deal with that now, so I told him we can talk later and I have to get back to work. Can you handle the rest of this group today?” Cas pleads. He’s exhausted and just needs to sit in his dark office for a while.

“Break up with you?! No, that can’t be right. That man is head over heels in love with you, it’s so sweet it's sickening and that's coming from me of all people! Also, he looks like a kicked puppy dog right now, so I don’t think that man has any intention of breaking up with you.” 

“Gabriel, please, there's something wrong and that's the only thing I can think of that would set him off,” Cas turns to look at Dean, but instead of finding the hurt man that Gabriel described he finds Dean whispering into one of the women's ears and she has a huge smile on her face. He’s pretty sure the woman is Lisa. Dean talked about her a lot since the start of the school year, how she is a single mother raising her son, Ben, and is doing an awesome job at it. Ben is a great kid, kind of shy and different, but incredibly smart and basically worships Dean. Lisa has apparently also been very helpful with the class whenever Dean needs parent volunteers. 

Seeing the two of them together standing so close and her smiling it just solidifies his suspicion of Dean breaking up with him. Of course, Dean found someone better than Cas. When the two of them had met, Dean was new to town and didn’t know anyone. Cas was the first option available so Dean took it. Now he has met Lisa. A beautiful woman, a caring mother, a yoga instructor, and someone who can give Dean the family he so desperately wants, without the complications of being a same-sex couple. It's not even a question as to why Dean is breaking up with him now. Lisa came into the picture and stole the man Cas loves, with his whole heart, away from him. Cas wants to be mad, he so desperately wants to hate the woman, but really he just feels defeated and emotionally drained.

He turns away from the happy couple and stares at the ground. “I’ll be in the office,” he mumbles to Gabe.

“Yeah, okay, Cassie, I’ll handle the rest of this and anything else you need today. Why don’t you just go home? Take the rest of the day off, I’ll cover for you.” Gabe gives him a comforting pat on the back and Cas is once again incredibly grateful for the shorter man. He starts to walk off when he hears his name.

“Cas! Wait, please! I need to talk to you!” Dean calls.

“Hold up Dean-o, I think you’ve done enough damage for the day. Just let him go,” Gabe intercepts the teacher.

“Enough damage? What the hell are you talking about Gabe?” Dean demands.

“Can’t you see you’ve hurt Cassie enough for one day! And then you go and rub in the fact that you found someone new, right in his face!”

“Someone new? Gabe, what?” Cas can hear the confusion in Dean’s voice. He finds himself frozen in place, unable to continue forward or turn around. 

“Lisa, Dean. I’m talking about your relationship with Lisa.”

“Lisa? There's nothing going on between Lisa and me! She's a mom to one of my kids; that's it!” Dean explains.

“Then why are you breaking up with Castiel?!” Gabe demands, causing Cas to cringe. He really doesn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of the zoo. There are people all around them watching now.

“Woah, who said I was breaking up with Cas?! I’m trying to propose to him, dammit!” 

Everything goes silent around Cas. There’s no way he heard that right. Dean isn’t breaking up with him? More importantly, Dean is proposing to him? Ever so slowly, Cas turns to look at the other man. Dean is standing there next to Gabriel with a shocked expression on his face, like he can’t believe what he just said either.

“You’re proposing?” Cas asks, and then as an afterthought, “To me?”

Cas watches Dean’s emotions play over his face. The shock turns to defeat and then sadness. Eventually it lands on a tentative hopeful smile as the teacher’s bright green eyes meet his own deep blue ones. 

“Yeah Cas, I was planning on proposing to you. Then things went wrong somewhere on the tour and you closed off, I couldn’t figure out what went wrong,”

“I closed off because I thought you were breaking up with me. You were silent the whole tour and would barely look at me, I thought I did something wrong,” Cas admits, dropping his gaze to the ground. 

“Oh sweetheart, no of course you did nothing wrong! I had this whole plan and I was so nervous all day. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise and I knew that I would. Cas, I love you so much, you must know that right?” Dean pleads, finally walking closer to Cas. He reaches up cautiously to cup Cas’ face. 

“I love you too,” Cas replies with a small smile. Dean gently brushes his thumb over Cas’ cheek returning the smile. He can see water shining in Dean’s eyes and assumes his eyes probably look the same. They get lost in each other's gaze. Grateful they still have each other and no one is breaking up with anyone. 

Someone coughing next to them brings them out of their trance. Cas turns to glare at Gabriel, for once again breaking the moment.

“Soooooooo, are you going to actually ask him Dean-o?” Gabriel smirks. Cas got so caught up in the fact that his boyfriend isn’t breaking up with him, that he forgot Dean was planning on proposing.

“Yes! Where’s Lisa? She has the ring,” Dean mumbles to himself.

“Lisa has the ring?” Cas asks confused.

“Um yeah, I didn’t trust myself not to pop the question randomly on the tour so I gave it to her to hold onto. I was about to get it back when I saw you walking away, but I needed to stop you and make sure we were alright first,” Dean explains. It all makes sense now. That’s why the two of them were standing close to each other and she was smiling. She has the ring Dean is using to propose to Cas.

“Here you go, Dean,” Lisa interrupts, slipping a small velvet box into Dean’s palm.

“Thanks, Lis,” Dean takes a deep breath before squaring his shoulders and facing Cas.The zookeeper holds his breath. He can feel his heart beating a mile a minute with anticipation. Dean grabs hold of one of Cas’ hands and takes his own deep breath.

“Castiel, I promise I’m not lion when I say you are the bear-y best person I have ever met. I know we seem like polar opposites at times, but I am otter-ly in love with you. I’ve said it before, but you are so freaking gorgeous it really should be ill-eagle. I really do hope I meet all of your koala-fications so that we can take on this crazy life together. Toucan only do it if they truly love each other, and I really think we do. I’m trying hard to beaver-y romantic here, and need you to know that I will owl-ways love you. I think it would be pretty macaw-esome if you would bee my husband. You once told me that penguins mate for life and the male proposes with a pebble,” Dean pulls out a rock from his pocket, and Cas recognizes it as the one they found last year when they took a road trip to the coast. 

Cas found it on the beach and was amazed by the clouds of blue color in the stone. Dean put in his pocket and they later discovered it was an agate. He never saw it again after that trip, he never thought that Dean would keep it all this time. With careful fingers, Cas reaches out to take the stone, it’s small, smaller than a quarter but worth so much more. He clenches it in a fist terrified of losing it now that he has it again. His gaze starts to blur as he realizes he has tears pooling in his eyes once again. Dean moves to kneel on one knee and opens the small box to reveal a beautiful titanium band with an inlay that strikingly resembles the same blue clouds on the stone. With a gasp, Cas unclenches his fist and peers at the two matching patterns.

“Castiel, whale you marry me?” Dean asks with a smirk on his face trying to hold it together, the tears in his eyes give him away though. 

Cas nods his head with the biggest smile on his face, showing off his gums and the crows feet by his eyes, “Yes, yes, absolutely yes!”

With his own huge smile, Dean carefully places the ring on Cas’ finger. Without wasting another second, Cas pulls Dean up into a tight embrace. Their lips meet with a clash of teeth from smiling too much. Eventually, they end up forehead to forehead, staring into each other’s eyes, unaware of anything else going on around them. They share soft smiles, too happy to care about how sappy they look. 

Cheers and clapping around them bring them back to reality, Dean’s class the loudest by far. Cas tears his eyes away from Dean’s and looks around. They have gathered quite the crowd and everyone is smiling at them. His gaze finds Gabe standing next to Lisa, both of them with phones out recording and taking pictures. There is a suspicious wet streak down Gabe’s cheek that he obviously tried to hide. Cas blushes from all of the attention and looks back at Dean, only to find the man’s gaze already on him. They share one more gentle kiss before walking over to their group hand in hand. The crowd disperses after a few strangers congratulate them. 

“Aw. Gabe are you crying?” Dean teases the shorter man.

“Shut up, Dean! I’m a sucker for a sappy proposal,” Gabriel grumbles with a mock glare at the couple. 

Lisa hands the phone she was using over to Dean, “Thanks Lis.”

“No problem, Dean. I’m very happy for you two,” She says with a genuine smile. “I’ll get the kids back on the bus for you, you guys take your time.”

With a nod from Dean, Lisa and Brenda gather the excited class of third graders and lead them back to the bus. Gabe takes the cue to leave and heads back to the zoo employee offices. The two men stand together, smiling like idiots, once again lost in their own world. Knowing they have their respective works to get back to, they say their goodbyes and make plans to meet at Dean’s place later that night. 

Cas goes through the rest of his day in a lovesick haze. His coworkers congratulate him when they see him which causes him to have a permanent smile on his face. The rest of the day flies by and before he knows it he is sitting at Dean’s kitchen table with one of the man’s famous homemade bacon cheeseburgers sitting in front of him. They enjoy their meal before settling down on the couch to binge-watch some TV before bed. Cas finds himself with his head in Dean’s lap and gentle fingers running through his hair. He lets his mind wander back to the zoo and Dean’s proposal. Suddenly he burst out laughing, startling the other man.

“You all good there Cas?” Dean asks.

Cas sits up to look at the love of his life. “I just realized why you never said any puns while we were on the tour. I was so worried that something was wrong because you only did the gummy bear joke, but really you were just saving them. You proposed to me using only animal puns!”

“Well yeah of course I did! That’s how we met. My stupid animal puns totally won you over,” Dean replies with a smirk. 

“Mmm, did they though? I don’t remember finding them very funny,” Cas teases.

“You love my puns!” Dean protests with a petulant pout

“I love you,” Cas smiles before leaning in for a long slow kiss.

“And I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! Hope y'all enjoyed! 
> 
> I would love to continue this series and currently struggling on where to go next... So if any of y'all have an idea please let me know!! :)


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